Jeremy Smith

Writing Prompt #1
UWRT 1101

The most vivid memory I have of learning how to read is from kindergarten. Growing up my
parents use to always say that in order to be better than someone you need to be better than them
at one thing. That one thing was reading and writing. They also sad that I might not be able to
out write or out read someone else but as long as I knew how to read it didnt matter. The parents
that I had always wanted to teach my sis and me everything we needed to learn for the next grade
so that we already had a fresh start and the teachers could refresh or teach us the way in which
they wanted for us to do their particular assignment.
I learned to write when I was 3 years old. Starting out my writing wasnt legible enough
for anyone to read but over time it was. My parents started teaching me how to write by using
books that contained templates where the letters were traceable. I remember my dad sitting down
with me and my twin sister across from me and pulling out this very thick book. At first I looked
at the book like what is that. He opened the book and there were a bunch of lines and letters.
There was one letter per page. He started with the capital letter A. My dad had a different
approach to teaching us. He made us watch him write the letter then try and repeat how he did it.
After a while I understood the concept, all I had to do was copy the way the letters were printed
on the page. My mom was the instructor for the lowercase letters. She approached teaching us by
placing her hand on ours and tracing the letters with us. Once they felt my letters were legible
enough to read, they began teaching me how to write words then later sentences. By the time I
was 4 I was far more advanced than some of my classmates in pre-school.
My twin sister and older brother made it easier to learn how to read and write. I having an
older sibling made it easier for me to learn how to read and write because my parents had already
taught one child how to do it. My sister made it easier also because I had a sibling right next to
me that helped me out when I needed help and vice versa.